The cast features Harvy Blanks (Jitney in WNYC’s Greene Space American Century Cycle recording, Two Trains Running at Two River Theater Company) as “Shealy;” Tony Award nominee Anthony Chisholm (Radio Golf, Gem of the Ocean, Two Trains Running, Jitney at Second Stage) as “Fielding,” Obie and Theatre World Award winner Brandon Dirden (The Piano Lesson, Clybourne Park, “The Americans”) as “Booster;” André Holland (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Moonlight,”American Horror Story”) as “Youngblood;” Carra Patterson (Significant Other, Wit, Straight Outta Compton) as “Rena,” Michael Potts (The Book of Mormon, Aubergine) as “Turnbo;” Keith Randolph Smith (Fences, King Hedley II) as “Doub;” Ray Anthony Thomas (Jitney and Fences in WNYC’s Greene Space American Century Cycle recordings, Between Riverside and Crazy) as “Philmore;” and Drama Desk Award winner John Douglas Thompson (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Mark Taper Forum, Satchmo at the Waldorf) as “Becker.”

Michael Potts. Photo by Lia Chang

Michael Potts. Photo by Lia Chang

Keith Randolph Smith. Photo by Lia Chang

Keith Randolph Smith and Harvy Blanks. Photo by Lia Chang

John Douglas Thompson and Brandon Dirden. Photo by Lia Chang

Carra Patterson. Photo by Lia Chang

André Holland and Ray Anthony Thomas. Photo by Lia Chang

John Douglas Thompson and Anthony Chisholm. Photo by Lia Chang

Anthony Chisholm. Photo by Lia Chang

Anthony Chisholm. Photo by Lia Chang

Anthony Chisholm. Photo by Lia Chang

Brandon Dirden. Photo by Lia Chang

Brandon Dirden. Photo by Lia Chang

Brandon Dirden. Photo by Lia Chang

Brandon Dirden. Photo by Lia Chang

John Douglas Thompson. Photo by Lia Chang

John Douglas Thompson. Photo by Lia Chang

John Douglas Thompson. Photo by Lia Chang

Harvy Blanks. Photo by Lia Chang

Harvy Blanks. Photo by Lia Chang

Keith Randolph Smith and Harvy Blanks. Photo by Lia Chang

André Holland. Photo by Lia Chang

Only one of the ten plays in two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s masterful The American Century Cycle has never been seen on Broadway – until now. Set in the early 1970s, this richly textured piece follows a group of men trying to eke out a living by driving unlicensed cabs, or Jitneys. When the city threatens to board up the business and the boss’ son returns from prison, tempers flare, potent secrets are revealed and the fragile threads binding these people together may come undone at last. MTC has a long history of co-producing works by this legendary playwright (King Hedley II, Seven Guitars and Piano Lesson) and is proud to produce this Broadway debut.

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Directing is Ruben Santiago-Hudson, called “perhaps the foremost interpreter of the legendary August Wilson” by The New York Times.

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Examiner.com, Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

On December 1st, I took a road trip to New Haven with Garth Kravits, Lori Tan Chinn and Sir Shadow to celebrate André De Shields’ debut as Hedley in the opening night performance of August Wilson’s SEVEN GUITARS, directed by Timothy Douglas, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street). Mr. De Shields and Ms. Chin, who currently appears in “Orange is the New Black,” are castmates in Jerry Mitchell’s Broadway-bound HALFTIME. Other special guests included Tony Award-winning choreographer and producer and director George Faison (The Wiz) and August Wilson’s widow Constanza Romero.

André De Shields, August Wilson’s widow Constanza Romero and Timothy Douglas at the opening night celebration at Atelier Florian. Photo by Lia Chang

Pittsburgh, 1948. Following the untimely death of Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton, a local blues guitarist on The Edge of stardom, friends grapple with his legacy. The fifth chapter in August Wilson’s epic Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning cycle, SEVEN GUITARS strikes moving chords of the African American experience in the 20th century: faith, artistry, humor, oppression, brutality, and love.

André De Shields backstage at Yale Rep. Photo by Lia Chang

Performances continue through December 17th. Tickets range from $12-99 and are available online at yalerep.org, by phone at (203) 432-1234, and in person at the Yale Rep Box Office (1120 Chapel Street). Student, senior, and group rates are also available.

Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang_photo by Garth Kravits

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

August Wilson’s Jitney will begin previews Wednesday, December 28 ahead of a Thursday, January 19 opening night at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Click here for tickets and more information.

“This is a dream come true for me,” said Santiago-Hudson. “11 years I’ve been working to make this happen and now beginning on December 28th ..It’s on! Blessed. Grateful.”

The ensemble of nine cast members featuring seven veterans of August Wilson plays met the press at the MTC Rehearsal Studios in New York City on November 29, 2016.

The cast features Harvy Blanks (Jitney in WNYC’s Greene Space American Century Cycle recording, Two Trains Running at Two River Theater Company) as “Shealy;” Tony Award nominee Anthony Chisholm (Radio Golf, Gem of the Ocean, Two Trains Running, Jitney at Second Stage) as “Fielding,” Obie and Theatre World Award winner Brandon Dirden (The Piano Lesson, Clybourne Park, “The Americans”) as “Booster;” André Holland (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Moonlight,”American Horror Story”) as “Youngblood;” Carra Patterson (Significant Other, Wit, Straight Outta Compton) as “Rena,” Michael Potts (The Book of Mormon, Aubergine) as “Turnbo;” Keith Randolph Smith (Fences, King Hedley II) as “Doub;” Ray Anthony Thomas (Jitney and Fences in WNYC’s Greene Space American Century Cycle recordings, Between Riverside and Crazy) as “Philmore;” and Drama Desk Award winner John Douglas Thompson (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Mark Taper Forum, Satchmo at the Waldorf) as “Becker.”

Harvy Blanks. Photo by Lia Chang

Anthony Chisholm. Photo by Lia Chang

Brandon J. Dirden. Photo by Lia Chang

André Holland. Photo by Lia Chang

Carra Patterson. Photo by Lia Chang

John Douglas Thompson. Photo by Lia Chang

Michael Potts. Photo by Lia Chang

Ray Anthony Thomas. Photo by Lia Chang

Keith Randolph Smith. Photo by Lia Chang

Only one of the ten plays in two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s masterful The American Century Cycle has never been seen on Broadway – until now. Set in the early 1970s, this richly textured piece follows a group of men trying to eke out a living by driving unlicensed cabs, or Jitneys. When the city threatens to board up the business and the boss’ son returns from prison, tempers flare, potent secrets are revealed and the fragile threads binding these people together may come undone at last. MTC has a long history of co-producing works by this legendary playwright (King Hedley II, Seven Guitars and Piano Lesson) and is proud to produce this Broadway debut. Directing is Ruben Santiago-Hudson, called “perhaps the foremost interpreter of the legendary August Wilson” by The New York Times.

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Examiner.com, Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

Thanks to the School of Rock lottery, we scored two seats in the second row to experience the high octane action in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash hit musical School of Rock – The Musical at the Winter Garden Theatre last night.

Jaygee Macapugay and Olivia Chun play mother and daughter in SCHOOL OF ROCK, and share the same birthday – November 26. Photo by Lia Chang

Now in it’s second year on Broadway, School of Rock stars Eric Petersen as wannabe rock star, Dewey Finn.

The Kid Band, who perform Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score live at every performance, includes new cast members Rachel Katzke as Katie the bass player and Walden Sullivan as Lawrence the keyboardist, along with returning cast members, Brandon Niederauer as Zack the guitarist and Raghav Mehrotra as Freddy on drums. Additional new SOR cast members include sassy Olivia Chun as super serious band manager Summer, Steven Booth as Ned, Annabelle Wachtel as Marcy, Terrance Bell, Jr. as Mason, Chloe Bryan as Madison, and Ellie Kim join the cast as a swing.

Check out the School of Rock cast on the 2016 Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Olivia Chun and Jaygee Macapugay. Photo by Lia Chang

Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits

Eric Petersen has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in national tours, most notably as Shrek in Shrek: The Musical, Peter and the Starcatcher, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. On television, Petersen played Arlo Barth on TVLand’s “Kristie,” and has been seen on Disney Channel’s “Jessie,” “Pair of Kings” and “Kirby Buckets.”

Jaygee Macapugay makes her Broadway debut in SCHOOL OF ROCK. Photo by Lia Chang

Olivia Chun made her Broadway debut as the Royal Twin in Lincoln Center’s Tony award-winning revival of The King and I of LCT. Workshops: Annie Kidz (CAA), DoogeunDoogeun Hangul(KCC), Bway Prep (JCC) Short Film: Curbside Waltz. Twitter: @chun_olivia, Insta: @oliviachunofficial

Nehal Joshi has appeared on Broadway in the original revival of Les Miserables and the Roundabout’s ThreePenny Opera. His Off-Broadway credits include Working (Drama Desk Award), Falling for Eve, Whose your baghdaddy…Regionally, he has worked at Arena Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, ATL. TV: “The Wire” (HBO), Game: War of Warcraft: Catacylm.

Garth Kravits, Jaygee Macapugay and Lia Chang

Garth Kravits and Nehal Joshi. Photo by Lia Chang

Jaygee Macapugay, Olivia Chun and Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits

Nehal Joshi, Lia Chang and Jaygee Macapugay. Photo by Garth Kravits

After the show, we visited onstage with Nehal Joshi and birthday girls, Jaygee Macapugay and Olivia Chun, who play mother and daughter and share the same birthday, November 26th.

School of Rock – The Musical is based on the smash hit 2003 film of the same, featuring music from the movie, as well as an original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, a book by Julian Fellowes and direction by Laurence Connor. School of Rock – The Musical opened to rave reviews on Sunday, December 6, 2015. School of Rock – The Musical was nominated for four 2016 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score (Lloyd Webber and Slater), Best Book (Fellowes), and Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Alex Brightman).

School of Rock – The Musical is a hilarious new musical that follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn a few extra bucks by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. While teaching these pint-sized prodigies what it means to truly rock, Dewey falls for the school’s beautiful, but uptight headmistress, helping her rediscover the wild child within.

School of Rock features choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter, scenic and costume design by Anna Louizos, lighting design by Natasha Katz, and sound design by Mick Potter and music supervision by Ethan Popp.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, once again, has the rare distinction of having three musicals running simultaneously on Broadway: School of Rock – The Musical, CATS, and The Phantom of the Opera.

School of Rock – The Musical recently opened in London’s West End at the New London Theatre.

School of Rock – The Musical is produced on Broadway by Andrew Lloyd Webber for The Really Useful Group, Warner Music Group & Access Industries, The Shubert Organization, and The Nederlander Organization. Nina Lannan and Madeleine Lloyd Webber serve as Executive Producers. Click here to purchase tickets and for more information.

The School of Rock Digital Lottery, now open, will open daily at 12:01am ET for entrants to win a limited number of $37 same day tickets to that day’s performance(s) at schoolofrocklottery.com.

The complete rules and regulations for the new digital lottery are as follows: – A limited number of tickets for each performance will be sold via digital lottery. – The School of Rock Digital Lottery will open at 12:01am ET each day and will remain open until 10:59am ET for matinees and 2:50pm ET for evening performances. – Winners will be drawn daily at approximately 11:15am ET for matinees and approximately 3:15pm ET for evening performances. – Winners will be notified by e-mail immediately upon drawing. – To claim tickets, winners must present their photo ID at the Winter Garden Theatre box office at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the corresponding performance to purchase their tickets. – Seat locations and number of tickets awarded by the lottery are subject to availability.

Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang_photo by Garth Kravits

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

The New Victory Theater, a leading presenter of Theater for Young Audiences, is presenting a special invitational reading of The Great Blueness, a new musical with book, music and lyrics by Andrew Gerle (Meet John Doe) on Thursday, November 10, 2016, as part of the 2016-17 New Victory LabWorks Artists series. Based on the book by Arnold Lobel (author of the beloved Frog and Toad series), The Great Blueness tells the story of a town where everything is grey, until the town Wizard discovers Blue and a magical new world of color unfolds.

Produced by Adrianne Lobel, the reading of The Great Blueness will be directed by two-time Tony nominee John Carrafa and stars Mark Linn-Baker as the Wizard, with Barbara Walsh as Mayor Charlotte, Garth Kravits as Councilman Amasa, Kat Nejat as Councilwoman Jerutha and Ava Della Pietra as Iris. The ensemble features Pamela Bob, Jeremy Geller, Laura Hall, David Hess, Tiffany Mann and Frank Viveros.

Mark-Linn Baker and Ava Della Pietra. Photo by Lia Chang

The creative team for The Great Blueness includes Jody Schum (Musical Director), Reed Ridgley (General Manager), Xander Rovang (Second Keyboard), Rachel Windfield (Director’s Assistant), and Jennifer Wheeler Kahn (Production Stage Manager). The Great Blueness received its first reading this past summer as part of New York Stage and Film & Vassar’s 32nd Powerhouse Season.

Mark-Linn Baker, Barbara Walsh and Garth Kravits. Photo by Lia Chang

Composer, playwright and pianist Andrew Gerle won the 2012 Kleban Award for outstanding librettist for his show GLORYANA, which also won a 2011 Richard Rodgers Award. He has also won three other Rodgers Awards for THE TUTOR (book and lyrics by Maryrose Wood).

Andrew Gerle. Photo by Lia Chang

Andrew Gerle. Photo by Lia Chang

With lyricist Eddie Sugarman, he won a Jonathan Larson Award for their show, MEET JOHN DOE (cast album on Broadway Records), and he received the first Burton Lane Fellowship for Young Composers from the Theater Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. His play RENOVATIONS was premiered in 2011 at the White Plains (NY) Performing Arts Center, and selections from his opera THE BEACH (libretto by Royce Vavrek) were premiered by the New York City Opera as part of their VOX reading series. Recent projects include an adaptation of The Tempest with legendary lyricist Tom Jones (The Fantasticks) and a score for Barrington Stage Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing.

THE GREAT BLUENESS Cast and Creative Team. Photo by Lia Chang

Gerle has been a Fellow at the MacDowell Artists’ Colony and a writer-in-residence at the Sundance Theater Institute at Ucross, the Rhinebeck Writers’ Retreat, and the Eugene O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference. As a musical director, he has worked on dozens of Off-Broadway, regional and touring productions, and was heard as the “hands” of Coalhouse Walker, Jr., in the recent Tony Award-winning revival of Ragtime. He has served as musical director and accompanist for such distinguished artists as Kitty Carlisle Hart, John Raitt, Jennifer Holliday, Shirley Jones, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Leslie Uggams and Liz Callaway. A CD of his jazz arrangements of the songs of Maltby & Shire with vocalist Christa Justus was released in 2010 under the PS Classics Label. He is the author of The Enraged Accompanist’s Guide to the Perfect Audition, which is becoming the go-to reference for professional and aspiring musical theater actors alike. He is on the faculty of Yale University, where he teaches musical theater performance and songwriting.

Designed to foster the creation of new work, New Victory LabWorks offers resources and opportunities for professional exchange among a broad spectrum of artists living and working in New York City. Managed by the New Victory Artistic Programming staff, New Victory LabWorks has grown to include a diverse spectrum of nearly 500 New York City-based arts professionals, including artists, practitioners, educators, presenters and producers.

THE GREAT BLUENESS Cast and Creative Team. Photo by Lia Chang

New Victory LabWorks Artists also have access to the feedback and support of New Victory staff, as well as professional development and networking events with New Victory visiting companies and guest artists. All season long, the greater New Victory LabWorks community is invited to attend workshops, master classes and various networking events, as well as performances in the New Victory season, to promote local, national and international exchange and further their exploration of theater for family audiences.

About The New Victory Theater
The New Victory Theater brings kids to the arts and the arts to kids as New York City’s premier theater devoted to the highest quality performing arts for kids and families. Serving the city in all its diversity, The New Victory Theater on 42nd Street presents theater, dance, circus, opera and music from around the world at affordable ticket prices. In addition to its public performances, the New Vic is also the largest provider of live performance to NYC school kids, serving 40,000 students in grades PreK-12 from more than 200 schools, after school programs and day camps each year. The New Victory Theater’s contributions to the cultural landscape of the city have been honored by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities with the 2014 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, a national Arts Education Award from Americans for the Arts and a 2012 Drama Desk Award for “providing enchanting, sophisticated children’s theater that appeals to the child in all of us, and for nurturing a love of theater in young people.

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

This afternoon I headed out to Gowanus to check out artist Arlan Huang’s new paintings at his studio during the 20th Annual Gowanus Open Studios weekend.

Arlan Huang and his wife Lillian Ling during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

For one weekend each year, artists working in the former factories, warehouses and studio buildings in Gowanus invite the public to visit their studios, see their work, and talk about their process. This year 328+ artists participated in the Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 held on October 15‐16 from 12‐6pm.

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Huang’s paintings have evolved over the years into a meditative practice where beauty is revealed at the edge of the painting’s possible destruction or dissolution. Brush marks in the forms of lines, dashes, and dots are layered until the right equation of visible and obscured form is achieved. Huang’s abstract paintings aim to capture what Allen Ginsberg called, “The dearness of the vanishing moment.” The 13 paintings below were created by Huang during his residency in the grounds of Zenkoji Temple, Japan last year. air-zenkouji.com

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Huang finds meaning and memories in atmospheric and spatially dissolving compositions. His paintings challenge a concrete understanding of their fleeting formal structures. Hurt creates relational and autonomous forms that connect to the viewer’s physical body, while breaking the mold of painting’s rectilinear support.

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Artist Arlan Huang in his studio during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Arlan Huang
Arlan Huang was born in Bangor, Maine, USA in 1948. He grew up in San Francisco, California. He currently lives in Manhattan. He is a painter and glassblower with permanent glass installations in New York, San Francisco and Japan. Recent accolades include: Joan Mitchell Creating A Living Legacy (CALL) award, 2014; Artist-in-Residence in the grounds of Zenkoji Temple, air-zenkouji.com, Japan, 2015; interviewed by Robin Clark (SFMOMA) for the CALL/VoCA talk series.

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Artist Arlan Huang in his studio during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Artist Arlan Huang in his studio during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

Visitors are encouraged to create their own self‐guided tours during this FREE event. The Arts Gowanus website features an Online Directory of Artists of all participating artists with samples of their art and includes an interactive map. Visitors can select artists to visit by perusing this directory or pick up a printed map throughout the neighborhood during the GOS 2016 weekend.

Paintings by Arlan Huang on view during Gowanus Arts Walk 2016 on October 16, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang

With the landscape of Brooklyn slowly changing for working artists, Gowanus remains one of the largest communities of visual artists, musicians, glassblowers, textile artists, graphic designers, and craftspeople. Today, Gowanus Open Studios is not only an opportunity for visitors in the tri‐state area to experience the diverse collection of creativity in the neighborhood, but also a symbol of artistic resilience in the face of unbridled real estate development and hyper‐gentriication. In addition to hosting Gowanus Open Studios, Arts Gowanus is working year‐round with city and local elected oficials to find ways to keep artists in Gowanus.

Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

Last night, I celebrated my birthday with André De Shields and Garth Kravits at Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere production of George Brant’s play with music, Marie and Rosetta, at Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater. Helmed by Artistic Director Neil Pepe, Marie and Rosetta stars Kecia Lewis as Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Rebecca Naomi Jones as Marie Knight. Also in the house- Anthony Chisholm, Carla Brothers and Virginia Woodruff.

A huge influence on Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles and Jimi Hendrix, Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Lewis) was a legend in her time, bringing fierce guitar-playing and swing to gospel music. Tharpe was the queen of ‘race records’ in the 30’s and 40’s, a woman who played guitar as passionately as Clapton, who performed mornings at churches and evenings at the Cotton Club, who was a big enough star to fill a baseball stadium for her third wedding, but ended up buried in an unmarked grave in Philadelphia. Marie and Rosetta chronicles Sister Rosetta’s first rehearsal with a young protégée, Marie Knight (Jones), as they prepare to embark on a tour that would establish them as one of the great duet teams in musical history.

Marie and Rosetta, which recently received a 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, began previews on August 24, officially opened September 14 and has been extended through October 16 at Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater. Tickets can be ordered online at www.atlantictheater.org, by calling OvationTix at 866-811-4111, or in person at The Linda Gross Theater box office (336 West 20th Street between 8 and 9 Avenues).

Kecia Lewis recently starred in the title role of Mother Courage Off-Broadway. She made her Broadway debut as “Effie” in the original company of Dreamgirls, originated the role of “Asaka, Mother of The Earth” in Once on This Island and has appeared in the Broadway musicals Big River, Ain’t Misbehavin, The Gospel at Colonus, The Drowsy Chaperone, Chicago and earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for her performance in Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center Theatre.

Rebecca Naomi Jones has performed in the Broadway musicals American Idiot, Passing Strange, and most recently as Yitzhak in the hit revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. She has appeared Off-Broadway in Murder Ballad,Big Love and The Fortress of Solitude and recently starred in Martyna Majok’s play Cost of Living at Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was widely acclaimed among the greatest Sanctified gospel singers of her generation; a flamboyant performer whose music often flirted with the blues and swing, she was also one of the most controversial talents of her day, shocking purists with her leap into the secular market – by playing nightclubs and theaters, she not only pushed spiritual music into the mainstream, but in the process also helped pioneer the rise of pop-gospel.

Garth Kravits (The Drowsy Chaperone) was recently featured as Goldberg in B-Side Productions’ The Wild Party by George Wolfe and Michael John LaChuisa. André De Shields (Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Wiz, The Full Monty, Play On!) is set for August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, directed by Timothy Douglas at Yale Repertory Theatre, Nov. 25 – Dec. 17. Anthony Chisholm (Two Trains Running, Gem of the Ocean, Radio Golf) returns to Broadway in the Ruben Santiago-Hudson helmed production of August Wilson’s Jitney at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, with previews begin December 28 and opening night set for January 19, 2017. The play is the only work from Wilson’s The American Century Cycle never seen on Broadway. Set in the early 1970’s, the story follows a group of men who drive unlicensed cabs or jitneys.

Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang_photo by Garth Kravits

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Examiner.com, Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

The Chicago theatrical community turned out to celebrate two-time Tony nominee and Emmy winner André De Shields (THE WIZ, AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’, THE FULL MONTY, PLAY ON!) during the three performance run of his self-penned CONFESSIONS OF A P.I.M.P., in the Začek McVay Theater at Victory Gardens this weekend.

From the heat of urban insurrection in Baltimore, Maryland to the incandescent glare of New York’s Great White Way, “Jelly Belly” has many stories to tell. Through song, dance, and spoken word, Victory Gardens Theater’s Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellow André De Shields shared his riveting solo-performance which follows his adventure from inner city impoverishment to self-actualization.

Presented by Dennis Začek and Grippo Stage Co., Inc., CONFESSIONS OF A P.I.M.P. originally premiered as part of Victory Gardens’ 2015 IGNITION Festival of New Plays.

André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

In a career spanning forty-seven years, André De Shields has distinguished himself as an unparalleled actor, director, choreographer and educator. He is the recipient of three Jeff Awards, one as Director for Victory Gardens’ 1987 production of The Colored Museum, and two as Featured Performer in a Musical for the Goodman Theatre productions of Play On! (1998) and Mary Zimmerman’s The Jungle Book (2013). In fact Mr. De Shields’ professional career began at Chicago’s Shubert Theatre, now the Bank of America Theatre, in the 1969 production of Hair. From there he moved on to The Me Nobody Knows at the Civic Opera House, and ultimately became a member of The Organic Theatre Company, where he created the role of Xander the Unconquerable, Ruler of the Sixth Dimension in the cult sensation Warp. A multiple Tony Award nominee, he is best known for his show-stopping performances in four legendary Broadway musicals: The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Play On! and The Full Monty.

André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

His numerous accolades include an Emmy Award for the NBC Special based on Ain’t Misbehavin’, the 2007 Village Voice OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance, the 2009 National Black Theatre Festival’s Living Legend Award, a 2012 Fox Foundation Fellowship in Distinguished Achievement, Florida Atlantic University’s 2014 Making Waves Award, the Theatre School at DePaul University 2015 Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Riant Theatre’s 2016 Pioneer of the Arts Award, the Black Theatre Network’s 2016 Winona Lee Fletcher Award, nine AUDELCO Awards. and two Doctor of Fine Arts degrees honoris causa one each from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the State University of New York-College at Buffalo. A triple Capricorn, Mr. De Shields is the ninth of eleven children born and reared in Baltimore, Maryland. www.andredeshields.com

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Samuel G. Roberson Jr., Chay Yew, Lia Chang, André De Shields.

Lia Chang_photo by Garth Kravits

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Examiner.com, Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

Congratulations to our niece Asia Flores, who received her Associate of Arts degree in Fashion Design during the 2016 FIDM Graduation Ceremony at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on June 20, 2016. Asia’s grandpa Russell Chang; her parents, Marissa Chang-Flores and Carlos Flores; her aunties Lia Chang and Tami Chang; her Auntie Pauline Chang and her cousin Leah Baptista, were in attendance. Below are highlights of the day.

Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang and her niece Asia Flores at the 2016 FIDM Graduation at the Staples Center in LA on June 20, 2016.

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Examiner.com, Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

I had an afternoon of pure joy at Lainie Sakakura’s UWS DANCE last week. Lainie and her young students were gracious enough to let me photograph their class, held on Thursday afternoons at Ripley Grier-Studios on 72nd St in New York.

Lainie is a 22+ year Broadway veteran, a choreographer, teacher, director and writer.

Her teaching career of over 25 years includes American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, New York University, CAP 21, University of the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow, Steps NYC, Broadway Dance Center, Alonzo King LINES Ballet Center, CCCEPA, New Jersey Ballet, and she was the proprietor of her own school, Dance Theatre Arts in CA.

UWS DANCE with Lainie Sakakura. Photo by Lia Chang

Her professional performing career started with joining Ballet Hispanico in 1988 after training with San Francisco Ballet for 8 years. Since then, she has been in the Original Cast of six Broadway shows including FOSSE and CHITA RIVERA, THE DANCER’S LIFE. Also in NYC – Radio City Music Hall Rockette; ARMIDA, Metropolitan Opera; 3 shows for City Center Encores! and many other shows, productions and tours too numerous to name. Currently in the Tony Award winning Broadway revival of THE KING AND I at Lincoln Center.

She is an Award winning choreographer and is the recipient of the 2015 Joe Callaway Award for Best Choreography – Off Broadway RED EYE OF LOVE with co-choreographer Alex Sanchez; Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Choreography – DAMN YANKEES and Nominated for Best CHoreography – HOT MIKADO both at the Marriott Theatre in Chicago. She recently choreographed and associate directed THE MERMAN SONGBOOK at the 92Y Lyrics and Lyricist Concert Series; choreographed two new shows for Holland America Lines; Jimmy Buffett’s Concert Tour; Allen Knee’s Syncopation (NY Times, “sheer movement provides its dramatic momentum, visual grace and defining metaphor”). She recently directed, produced and wrote ALVIN ING – GOT A LOT OF LIVIN’ TO DO, a cabaret show, at The Duplex. BroadwayWorld.com.

Lainie has two daughters, Avelina and Isa, and is a passionate co-chair of the PS 87 Culture & Community Committee which promotes multicultural awareness in our community with five events a year including International Dinner Dance, Winter Holiday Festival, Pan Asian Lunar New Year, Black History and Fiesta Latina.

Laine shared, “Lia beautifully captures all the aspects of teaching children… how they learn, the friendships that form, putting on shoes, doing their hair, standing in line, waiting for the next moment, laughing, struggling, then doing something unexpectedly wonderful, the pride that fills their face, the silliness and seriousness of it all and the loving relationships I have with them all. They fill me with joy and I’m always honored to teach and help shape the way they see the world even for just one afternoon a week.”